The results of more than two-and-one-half years of study by the United States Department of Labor on the effects of the Age Discrimination in Employment Amendments on older workers' retirement plans indicate that removing employment obstacles facing older workers will increase labor force participation rates and, in turn, help refinance the Social Security system more compassionately than simply reducing retirement benefits. Recent legislation raising the mandatory retirement age to 70, when combined with the future elimination of mandatory retirement altogether and the removal of employment disincentives in present pension plans, would together add nearly one-half million older workers to the labor force by the year 2000. In contrast, a 10 percent reduction in Social Security benefits would increase labor force participation only by 64,000, while at the same time placing heavy economic burden on millions of elderly retirees. (KC)